Piggy Thank You - Stampin' Up! This Little Piggy

  My friend (and also my downline) Nicole bailed me out last week when I realized I had designed a card for my stamp club that used the Dapper Denim ink pad on 3 different elements of the same card and she let me borrow her ink pad for the class.  Having 15 stampers using one ink pad for multiple elements is just a log jam waiting to happen!  Usually I design my class projects so that this doesn't happen but for some reason I didn't think about it with this card but Nicole was so generous in lending me her ink pad.  Stampy friends are the best!

  Of course before I returned the ink pad I re-inked it and had to make a proper thank you card!  I wanted to play around with the new Stampin' Blends (being released for customers tomorrow!!) and get some more practice in so I pulled out the This Little Piggy stamp set and combined it with the Cas(e) This Sketch challenge.

  I still have a ways to go with my alcohol marker coloring but it's fun to play.   The Stampin' Blends make it pretty easy since there is a light marker and dark marker of the same shade so there isn't a lot of guess work involved as with other marker brands. And if it's not pretty easy chances are I'm not going to do it very often!

  The card base is Whisper White thick covered with a piece of the Wood Textures DSP.  All of the stamping is done with Memento black onto Whisper White and then colored with the Stampin' Blends.  I used Old Olive, Pool Party and Pink Pirouette.

  After coloring I used the Layering Circles framelits to cut out the images and to cut scalloped circles for the backing.  I popped the circles with dimensionals and trimmed the edges to fit the sketch.

  The sentiment is stamped in black on a strip of Pear Pizzazz cardstock and a little retired Calypso Coral baker's twine bow embellishes the end.

  And of course I had to do up the inside of the thank you card to fit the pig theme!

  

  The beginning of the sentiment is from the This Little Piggy set and I added in the "for saving my bacon" with the Labeler Alphabet stamp set.

  The strip of bacon was made by using the wavy/swoosh thing from the Swirly Scribbles thinlets to cut a Very Vanilla strip and a Cherry Cobbler strip.  I sponged some Crumb Cake ink along the edges of the Very Vanilla as well as used it to darken the Cherry Cobbler pieces which I layered back into the frame.

 All in all a pretty simple card which I think turned out pretty cute!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: This Little Piggy, Labeler Alphabet

Ink: Memento black  Stampin' Blends: Old Olive, Pool Party, Pink Pirouette

Paper: Whisper White, Whisper White thick, Wood Textures DSP, Old Olive, Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler

Accessories: Layering Circles framelits, dimensionals, Calypso Coral baker's twine (retired), Swirly Scribbles thinlets

  

Vintage Leaves Sympathy - Stampin' Up! Vintage Leaves

  Just a quick share today; there always seems to be so much to do on Monday mornings that you'd think I would learn and get most of it done on Sundays right?  Nope!

  For this sympathy card I kept it very simple with the color combination.  Just Crumb Cake, Whisper White and Night of Navy.

  The background leaves are embossed in white and it makes for a nice subtle background and adds texture without being overpowering.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Vintage Leaves, Rose Wonder

Ink: Versamark, Night of Navy

Paper: Whisper White thick, Crumb Cake

Accessories: white embossing powder, corner rounder, Leaflet framelits, linen thread, Crinkled Seam binding ribbon, dimensionals

Mini Maple Leaves - Stampin' Up! Colorful Seasons - Fab Friday 124

  And here we are back at Friday again!  And to sweeten the day it's a Fab Friday challenge day!  We have a great autumn color combination for you today though I'm excited to see what people might create that is not an autumn theme.  I couldn't see anything else but leaves when I saw this color combination.  

  I've always thought that Pumpkin Pie and Tangerine Tango are just too similar and unless I'm trying to match up some DSP I hardly ever grab Tangerine Tango so it was a bit of challenge having 2 oranges in combination.  As you can see from my card there is hardly any difference!  Oh well.  I'm sure one of the other Design Team members will knock your socks off and show these oranges in a completely different light.

  The only detail that's worth a special mention here is the little line of die cut dots across the bottom of the card.  I made it using a die in the Swirly Snowflakes thinlet set.  I hadn't used it yet and I really like the subtle detail it adds.

  I hope you have fun using these colors in your weekend stamping!  Don't forget to share your creation with us over at Fab Friday!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Colorful Seasons, Rose Wonder

Ink: Tangerine Tango, Fresh Fig, Pumpkin Pie, Versamark

Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Stitched Shapes framelits, Seasonal Layers Thinlets, Swirly Snowflakes thinlets, copper embossing powder, 1/8" Fresh Fig Sheer ribbon, mini dimensionals, corner rounder punch (retired)

Fall Daisies - Stampin' Up! Daisy Delight

In keeping with the theme of my days lately I'm still running behind in sharing my stamp club cards from last month.  I designed this card using a simple, back to basics technique.  Sometimes, with all of the fun new tools and Big Shot dies available we can forget about the easy "stamps, paper, ink" stamping.

  Not the best photo (apparently another theme of my days lately!), but this is a very clean and simple card.

  First, to make the blue square I just took a piece of copy paper and made a stencil template by using my Layering Squares framelits to cut a square out of the center of the copy paper.  If you don't have a Big Shot or the square framelits you can cut your own stencil with an exacto knife.  Other shapes work great too!  Great creative!  After using a bit of  repositionable adhesive (washi tape works too) to line up the stencil over a piece of Whisper White I sponged Soft Sky ink inside the square.  I ave found that starting your sponging/swiping on the outside edges of the stencil and working to the center give the best results and prevents the template from getting caught and torn.  And now you have a nice light background to do the rest of your stamping on.  I tend to keep all of my stencils so that I don't have to always make a new one cutting down on one more step!

  The Daisy Delight stamp set has the perfect size of small flowers to use inside the sponged frame.  The little images in this set might get overlooked at first glance in favor of the large daisy and matching punch but definitely take a look at some of the smaller stamps; there is a lot you can do with them!  The daisy stems are stamped in Tranquil Tide ink, the base of the daisies is Crushed Curry and the outline overlay is Early Espresso.

  See, very easy and it doesn't take a lot of tools or extra equipment!  The final details is the punched sentiment.  Since the rest of the card was flat I wanted one element to be popped.  The sentiment is from the Thoughtful Banners stamp set in Early Espresso and then punched out with the Duet Banner punch.  I trimmed the flag ends off, punched another banner and used the trimmed flagged ends and popped the sentiment up with mini dimensionals.  This is a way to extend the size of the banner as well.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Delightful Daisy, Thoughtful Banners

Ink: Soft Sky, Tranquil Tide, Crushed Curry, Early Espresso

Paper: Early Espresso, Whisper White

Accessories: Layering Squares framelits (for stencil), Duet Banner punch, mini dimensionals

Fall Birthday Bouquet - Stampin' Up! Beautiful Bouquet

Just a quick post today with little chatter; I have to clean my house to get ready for stamp club tomorrow!  Yuck to cleaning but yay to stamp club!

I made this card a few weeks back for a fall theme challenge.  The picture had some beautiful flowers in rich autumn colors which I tried to recreate with the Beautiful Bouquet bundle.  I did some select sponging on a few of the flowers and leaves to add some depth.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Beautiful Bouquet

Ink: Fresh Fig, Berry Burst, Lemon Lime Twist, So Saffron, Peekaboo Peach, Cajun Craze

Paper: Whisper White, Woodgrain DSP, Old Olive, Fresh Fig

Accessories: Bouquet Bunch framelits, Layering Circles framelits, corner rounder, twine, gold thread, dimensionals

Rich Autumn Leaves Part 2 - Stampin' Up! Colorful Seasons

 A few weeks ago I shared a card for the Fab Friday challenge that was a color challenge.  It looks almost exactly like this one right?  I designed this one first for my stamp club last month and just switched the colors out for the challenge (along with a few other details).  Work smarter, not harder!  Some weeks there just aren't enough hours to stamp as much as I'd like to!

  We've had a few cool days and cold nights so I think we'll be starting to see some autumn color like this soon.

  One of my stampers had mentioned last month that she had to send out a few sympathy cards recently and we agreed that sympathy cards weren't really fun cards to make in the moment.  I usually like to have a few pre-made in my card stash so that is why I designed this card for my stampers last month.  The great thing about a design like this is it's versatility; with just a quick change of sentiment it can be a birthday, hello or thank you card.

  The card base is Very Vanilla thick and then a layer of the Woodgrain DSP with the leaves from Colorful Seasons stamped in Crumb Cake all over.

  A piece of 1/8" Sheer ribbon in Fresh Fig is tied across the card front.  The sentiment from Thoughts & Prayers is stamped in Fresh Fig with some Crumb Cake (stamped off once) leaves and then it's all punched out with the Everyday Label punch.

  The leaves are embossed in gold on watercolor paper and then colored with reinkers and an Aquapainter in Cajun Craze, Fresh Fig and Crushed Curry.  The leaves are cut out with the Seasonal Layers thinlets and popped up okn the card front with dimensionals.

  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and gets lots of stamping time in!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Colorful Seasons, Thoughts & Prayers

Ink: Crumb Cake, Fresh Fig, Versamark  Reinkers: Cajun Craze, Fresh Fig, Crushed Curry

Paper: Very Vanilla thick, Wood Grain DSP, watercolor paper, Very Vanilla

Accessories: gold embossing powder, Seasonal Layers thinlets, Fresh Fig sheer ribbon, dimensionals, Everyday Label punch

Quilted Christmas Tree - Stampin' Up! Christmas Quilt

I just had a bit of a panic attack!  I googled how many days until Christmas and the number 68 just seems way to close!  While I like to look ahead and do some planning, right now the big picture just feels a bit overwhelming.  Well, one thing at a time right?  Let's start with something small to get ready for Christmas.

Whether you make 20 Christmas cards or 200 now is the time to get started on your Christmas designs.   I've been playing around with the Christmas Quilt bundle and having a lot of fun.  Even though the layout in the catalog shows all Christmas items it is super easy to change out the colors for a card for any time of the year.  I know a lot of stampers are enjoying creating little paper quilts with this set.  A little less time consuming than a real quilt!

I have to confess that when I bought this bundle I don't think I even really noticed that you can make a Christmas tree with some of the stamps!  I think I was so focused on the quilt shapes that I just saw triangles. 

This is a pretty easy card to put together and would be a good candidate for making multiples.  The card base is Whisper White thick and then a slightly smaller layer of Quilted Christmas DSP.

I layered a length of Lemon Lime Twist finely woven ribbon with a piece of Garden Green cardstock embossed in gold with the sentiment from the Star of Light stamp set.

The tree is a 2 step stamp design with the Lemon Lime Twist portion one stamp and the Garden Green part another stamp.  I use the outline stamp in Garden Green ink.  The tree base is stamped in Real Red.  Once the tree and base were cut out I popped them up with the dimensionals (the mini ones were the perfect size!) onto a Whisper White die cut circle.

A gold Glimmer paper star tops off the tree and a sweet little white baker's twine bowanchors the sentiment banner to the circle.

Start making a list and checking it twice to make sure you give yourself enough time to make your Christmas cards!

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Christmas Quilt, Star of Light

Ink: Garden Green, Lemon Lime Twist, Real Red, Versamark

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Quilted Christmas DSP, Garden Green, Gold Glimmer paper

Accessories: Stitched Shapes framelits, Quilt Builder framelits, gold embossing powder, Lemon Lime Twist finely woven ribbon, dimensionals

Warm Drink = Happy Life - Stampin' Up! Coffee Cafe

  Brrrr!  It was chilly on my morning walk and I was so happy that my husband had a pot of coffee made when I got home.  The cold was good motivation to walk fast but the 40 degree swing in weather from last week is a bit drastic!  Now I have to have 8 different outfits piled up in my closet because of the temperature swings!  I can't put away the shorts and t shirts yet but I have to have some jeans and long sleeves handy for the cool mornings!  But I don't wear any of it long enough to justify washing any of it so it just piles up!  Problems I tell you!

  Anyway, I thought this was an appropriate card for today.

  One of the (many) great things about Stampin' Up! is that there is so much opportunity to mix and match different products suites with each other.  While the suites and bundles make it easy to create coordinated projects they are also versatile enough to stretch and use different parts with other products to fit whatever kind of card you want to make.

  I had the Coffee Cafe stamp set before the Merry Cafe set was released in the Holiday catalog and I love the little tiny seasonal accessory stamps that are in the Merry Cafe set.  They are so cute to use to decorate the cup.  I decided to try my own version of a fall themed coffee cup (or is it hot apple cider??) by using some of the stamps I already owned.

  The card base is Early Espresso, then a layer of Crushed Curry.  Next up is a piece of Very Vanilla embossed with the Cable Knit embossing folder.

  The cup is stamped in Early Espresso ink onto a piece of Painted Autumn DSP.  The lid is Early Espresso and the sleeve is as well.

  To add to the fall feel of this card I stamped a little maple leaf from the Colorful Seasons set in Crushed Curry and die cut it along with a larger maple leaf (in Cajun Craze) with the Seasonal Layers thinlets.  The little leaf has a linen thread bow and anchors the sentiment from Tabs for Everything stamped in Early Espresso.  A bit of burlap ribbon add to the texture.

  Stay warm if you have a chilly morning where you live!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Coffee Cafe, Colorful Seasons, Tabs for Everything

Ink: Early Espresso, Crushed Curry

Paper: Early Espresso, Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla, Painted Autumn DSP, Cajun Craze

Accesssories: Cable Knit embossing folder, Seasonal Layers thinlets, linen thread, burlap ribbon, dimensionals

Pick Halloween or Autumn - Stampin' Up! Pick a Pumpkin

  I thought I had better get these cards shared before my next stamp club meets or before Halloween is over and done with!  I've not been having good luck taking photos lately.  I'd like to blame the camera but I know it's really just user error!  It's either been too sunny or too dark.  Sounds a bit like Goldilocks right?

  Anyway on to the cards...  I designed the same card with just slight changes so that my stampers could choose if they wanted to make a fall card or a Halloween card.

  A few slight changes and you've got a whole different card.   

 Give Thanks Card-

Stamps: Pick a Pumpkin, Labels to Love

Ink: Whisper White craft, Old Olive, Peekaboo Peach, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede

Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Old Olive

Accessories: Patterned Pumpkins Thinlets, dimensionals, Old Olive Baker's Twine, corner rounder (retired)

Boo! Card -

Stamps: Pick a Pumpkin, Labeler Alphabet

Ink: Whisper White craft, Old Olive, Peekaboo Peach, Pumpkin Pie, Black

Paper: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Old Olive

Accessories: Patterned Pumpkins Thinlets, dimensionals, mini sequin trim, corner rounder

Beautiful Floral Love Note - Stampin' Up! Beautiful Bouquet - Fab Friday 123

It's time for another Fab Friday challenge!  Woo-Hoo!  It's a great way to start off your stamping this weekend.  We have a layout this time so all you need to do it pick your stamps and colors and get started!  I know, easier said than done right?

  Look at all that open space!  So many ways this layout could go!

  I left a lot of that space empty on my card and put the focus on the large sentiment and the flower flag.

 The card base is Early Espresso, then a layer of Whisper White topped with a basic pattern from the Coffee Break DSP.  The Soft Sky pattern seemed like a good background for some brighter flowers.

  The flag is also a piece of Coffee Break DSP and I layered flowers in Crushed Curry, Tangerine Tango and Soft Sky and some leaves in Lemon Lime Twist on top.  The flowers and leaves are from Beautiful Bouquet which has so many combinations of flowers, leaves and stems it can be overwhelming to decide which ones to use (ask me how I know!).

  The sentiment is made up from the Sunshine Wishes and Sunshine Sayings duo stamped in Early Espresso ink and die cut in Early Espresso cardstock.  I layered the pieces over a length of 3/8" classic weave ribbon in Whisper White.  Another little flower and some leaves unify the 2 separate main elements of the card. 

  Some rhinestones and a little baker's twine bow finish off the details for this card.

  I hope to see your card in the Fab Friday gallery!  Remember our challenge runs for almost 2 weeks so that's plenty of time to share it with us!  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Beautiful Bouquet, Sunshine Sayings

Ink: Early Epsresso, Soft Sky, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry, Lemon Lime Twist

Paper: Early Espresso, Coffee Break DSP, Whisper White

Accessories: Sunshine Wishes thinlets, Bouquet Bunch framelits, dimensionals, rhinestones, baker's twine, classic weave ribbon

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Jack o Lantern Trio - Stampin' Up! Pick a Pumpkin

  I always like to have a fall stamp set that can be used for Halloween cards if I need a few but that is versatile enough that it can be used for regular fall cards as well.  I like the Pick a Pumpkin set in the Holiday catalog because it fits the bill and has a cute thinlets set for even more options.

  In this set you can turn the pumpkins into jack o lanterns by adding one of three faces to your pumpkins.

  To add a bit of texture to the Crumb Cake card front I embossed it with the Quilt Top embossing folder.

I stamped the 3 pumpkins in Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive ink and embossed the faces with black embossing powder.  Then I used the Stitched Shapes framelits to cut them out.  They are popped up on a narrow strip of Old Olive cardstock.

  The sentiment flag was stamped with the Labeler Alphabet and embossed in white embossing powder.  I added a tiny bit of Old Olive 1/4" Stitched-Edge ribbon.

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Pick a Pumpkin, Labeler Alphabet

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Versamark

Paper: Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Basic Black, Whisper White

Accessories: white embossing powder, black embossing powder, Stitched Shapes framelits, Stitched-Edge ribbon, Quite Top embossing folder, dimensionals

Daisy Birthday - Stampin' Up! Daisy Delight

  Am I the only one who buys a pack of Designer Series Paper because I love the patterns and designs but then don't use it on my cards?  Sometimes its hard to cut into that beautiful paper and we all need encouragement to use it and not hoard it.  Isn't it sad to think about all that beautiful paper sitting on a shelf getting dusty and faded?

  My card today uses a nice chunk of the Delightful Daisy DSP.  I like this layout and I've used variations of it before but it's a great way to show off a big piece of DSP.  A lot of patterns look better larger than with just a small strip so don't be afraid to cut into it and go big!

  Wisteria Wonder is not listed as one of the colors in the Delightful Daisy DSP but it works beautifully with several of the designs.  I used it for my card base and then added the DSP to cover almost all of the front.

  A Night of Navy Stitched Shapes circle gives a nice contrast to show off the popped up Wisteria Wonder daisy.  I stamped it and punched it out twice for a more full flower.  I used a blender pen to add a light wash of Wisteria Wonder ink to the petals.  The center is stamped in Daffodil Delight.

 The happy birthday sentiment is stamped in Night of Navy, flagged and popped up.  I added a bit of retired Crushed Curry baker's twine in a bow.

  If you're ready to buy some DSP and get to cardmaking then you don't want to miss out on the Buy 3 Get 1 Free DSP sale that Stampin' Up! is having for the month of October.  Head to my online store to get started.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Daisy Delight, Sunshine Sayings

Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White, Night of Navy

Accessories: Stitched Shapes framelits, Daisy punch, dimensionals, Crushed Curry Baker's twine (retired)

Christmas Coffee (or Hot Chocolate!) - Stampin' Up! Coffee Cafe

  I'm glad I have my nice warm coffee this morning!  The temps here in Richmond have finally dropped down into the autumn weather realm and it's a bit chilly, at least in the morning.  While we probably won't have real winter weather for quite some time it's good to break out some winter and Christmas stamps and get in the spirit.

  I combined the Coffee Cafe and Snowflake Sentiments stamp sets for this project.

   We can pretend this cup is a fancy cafe mocha with whipped cream or a more kid friendly hot chocolate with whipped cream.  I used the Quilted Christmas DSP stack for the cup and then pulled the rest of the colors for the card from this paper.  The base is Pool Party, the sleeve and whipped cream are both stamped in Pool Party.
 
  The little trio of snowflakes from Snowflake Sentiments fit perfectly on the sleeve so I stamped them in Garden Green.  The sentiment is also stamped in Garden Green then cut out with a Stitched Shapes circle framelit.

  For a bit of glitz and shine I backed the sentiment with a silver Foil Snowflake.  After popping up the cup on dimensionals I colored some clear Wink of Stella on the whipped cream.  Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper makes for great snowflakes so I used a few small scraps and the Swirly Snowflakes thinlets to cut 2 small snowflakes and then layered them.  I added an adhesive pearl to the center.  I colored it with a Sharpie to match the Lemon Lime Twist that is in the center of the "flowers" in the DSP pattern.

  Thanks for looking!   Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Coffee Cafe, Snowflake Sentiments

Ink: Garden Green, Pool Party

Paper: Pool Party, Whisper White, Quilted Christmas DSP, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper

Accessories: Swirly Snowflakes thinlets, Stitched Shapes framelits, Foil Snowflake, adhesive pearl, Wink of Stella, dimensionals